Warrior Pokemon
by Mist Ketchum
Summary: When our heroes are caught in a storm, they wake up as cats in the world of Warriors. What will happen in this new life and how can they get back to their own world? Contains Poke, Rocktiger, and many more shippings.
1. Chapter 1- The Storm

_**Here is another role play that I did with a friend (not the one I did "The Greedy King" with, another friend). This fic was written all over the place but since it was my idea originally, I can easily fill in the gaps. This beginning part was created totally by me because we lost the notebook with the beginning and it wasn't that great anyways. Updates should be fairly quick because I just have to convert what's already written from play format to story format.  
**_

_**Anyways, this is basically the Warriors series by Erin Hunter where all the Pokemon people we all know so well are turned into cats and begin to live in the clans. Even if you have never read Warriors, I will try to fill in some "need to know" stuff in the fic so you aren't confused. But if you haven't read the series, you should! It's amazing! :D  
**_

_**I role played (All the males basically):  
**_

_**Ash  
**_

_**Brock  
**_

_**Max  
**_

_**Nightshade (OC)  
**_

_**My friend roleplayed (All the females basically):  
**_

_**Misty  
**_

_**Tigerkit (OC)  
**_

_**May  
**_

_**Foxheart (OC)  
**_

_**Shippings: Will contain Poke, Rocktiger (you'll see. ;D ) and some others that you will have to read to find out.  
**_

_**Since this contains two copywrites, I'll do a disclaimer for the first time. I do not own any rights to Pokemon or Warriors, I do however own this story.  
**_

_**Enough of my rambling. Enjoy and feel free to review.  
**_

* * *

_**Warrior Pokemon**_

_**Chapter 1:**_

Lightning flashed dangerously close to a ship that was braving the storm. Rain heavily pelted the top of it and the waves tossed it mercilously around. Aboard the ship were many people clinging on for dear life, some of the many being Ash and his friends.

The captain had already been thrown overboard by the storm, along with many of the crew. Brock sprang to the rescue and did what he could to steer the ship safely through the storm.

A young boy with teal blue hair and glasses suddenly flew through the air and was grabbed by a gloved hand.

"May!" Max cried, his eyes nearly tearing up.

"Max!" May responded with equally emotional eyes as she held onto his hand and a beam at the same time to stop them both from flying.

"Hold on tight Pikachu." Ash said through gritted teeth as he saw his buddy fighting to hold onto his shoulder.

"Azurill! No!" Misty cried and ran after her water Pokemon who was being carried away by the wind. She leaped up and caught it, only to be carried by the wind herself. "AHHHHH!"

"Misty!" Ash abandoned his pole and leaped up to grab Misty's hand, his feet succeeding in hitting the ground again.

"Ash!" Misty gasped, gripping Azurill with one hand and Ash's hand with her other.

"Everyone!" Brock cried as he saw their turmoil. How would they make it out of this?

Suddenly a bright light could be seen below the surface of the raging black water that seemed to be glowing eyes and designs on a body. A foreign and echoing roar filled the air before a bright light overtook the group and they all passed out.

Ash slowly opened his eyes to serene silence. His vision was slightly blurry but when it cleared, he saw greenery all around him. The ship and the storm was nowhere in sight, making Ash wonder if they had landed on a beach or something. But as he looked around, he saw that he was in some sort of cave covered with what looked like moss. As he searched his surroundings, he noticed a brown heap of furr lying somewhere nearby him.

Standing up, he noticed that he seemed way shorter than usual and as he walked, he was clumsy on his feet. _'What's wrong with me?' _ We wondered and instinctively looked down at his feet. He leaped back in shock at what he saw. "PAWS?!" He gasped in shock. "Why in Mew's name do I have PAWS?!"

The brown heap stirred at his outburst and looked at him with her dazzling sapphire eyes. "Huh?" She mumbled sleepily, slowly getting up.

Ash noticed that this brown heap was actually a _'Cat?!' _Regular animals were exceedingly rare in the Pokemon world and here before him was a regular cat. But she looked very familiar. She was brown with a black spot on the bridge of her nose and had one extremely long tuft of fur on each side under her ears that reminded Ash of May's hair.

The cat suddenly jumped up and stared at Ash in surprise before looking around the cave in a panic. "Wh-where am I?! Where is everyone?!" She cried in a panic with a strikingly familiar voice.

"Whoa…" Ash muttered as he stared at the cat like she had two heads. "I never knew that cats could talk."

She glanced at him in surprise. "Cats can't talk! I was wondering how YOU were able to!"

"Well I'M not a cat!" Ash spat.

"Neither am I!" The cat responded.

The two stared at each other in utter confusion until the cat's blue eyes lit up in realization.

"W-wait a minute! That voice! A-Ash, is that you?!" She gasped.

Ash blinked. "Yeah, I'm Ash. But how do you know my name?"

"It's me, May. Don't you recognize me?"

Ash stared at her in shock. "I thought you seemed familiar… But why are you a cat?"

"That's what I was about to ask YOU!"

"But… I'm NOT a cat." Ash muttered, even more confused then before.

"Yes you are, and you're…" She smirked. "Fluffy."

"What? What do you mean I'm 'fluffy'?" Ash stared at her dumbfounded.

May laughed. "Exactly that. You are a ball of black fluff. If it wasn't you in that body, I'd be squeezing the life out of you because you're so adorable!"

"Wha-?!" Ash yelled, blushing under his furr in embarrassment. "I'm not supposed to be adorable! I'm training to be a Pokemon Master! I can't be a fluffy, adoable Pokemon Master!" He spat in exasperation.

May snickered softly. "You're adorable to Misty…"

"WHAT?!" Ash yelled.

"Nothing, nothing. We have more important matters to worry about like why you're a cat." May waved a paw in dismissal.

"And why you're a cat too…" Ash pointed out.

May stopped and looked at her paw, freezing at the realization. "I'm a cat…" She muttered. She ran a paw over her hair tufts under her ears before starting to bat at them slightly.

While May was stuck in her own world of realization, Ash was twisting and turning trying to get a look at himself, losing his balance and tumbling to his side in the process.

"This is horrible!" May wailed suddenly.

"Yeah, I know… We're both cats." Ash muttered.

"No, really. This is horrible!" May repeated as she was batting her own hair with her paws. "Being a cat makes me want to play with my own hair!"

Ash chuckled with a sweat drop. "So how-"

"I'M A CAT!" May wailed at the top of her lungs, making Ash leap up about 5 feet with furr fluffed out more than it already was.

"C-Calm down May!" Ash said.

She glared at him. "Don't tell me to calm down! We don't know where we are, we don't know where everyone else is, we somehow turned into cats and…" She suddenly started looking around in more of a panic. "My Pokeballs are gone!"

"Huh?!" Now it was Ash's turn to panic. "My Pokeballs are gone too!" Ash cried as he searched frantically around the cave. "Pikachu?! PIKACHU!" He cried at the top of his lungs, this time making May's fur fluff out.

"What's going on here?!" A deep voice growled.

They turned around to see a humongous cat at the mouth of the cave, glaring at them with eyes cold enough to send a chill down your spine.

They stared up at him, speechless with shock.

"Come on you two. It's time for the Dawn Patrol. Get your lazy rumps out here." And with that, he withdrew from the cave.

The two exchanged glances.

"It looks like we're not the only cats…" Ash muttered, the light bulb above his head staring to light up slightly.

"D-did you know him?!" May asked, her eyes huge and she was trembling slightly.

"Huh? No… He didn't seem like anyone _I _know." Ash pondered. "Unless it was Paul or something…"

May shuddered. "You told me about Paul… I never knew he was so scary."

Ash shrugged. "He's not really scary, he's just a jerk."

"Stop sitting around chattering like starlings and get out here!" The cat's annoyed voice called from outside the cave.

Ash blinked. "Did he just call us Starly?!"

May shrugged and cautiously crept out of the cave with Ash following.

As the two exited the cave into the sunlight, their jaws gaped at the sight.

Everywhere you looked in the sandy clearing there were cats of all sizes and colors. Some were walking around, some laying together grooming one another, some eating meat that came from a pile in the center. The clearing was surrounded by cliff faces that closed them in and all around the wall were dens made out of various materials such as brambles and even a fallen tree trunk.

"Ash… I don't think we're in Kanto anymore…" May mused breathlessly.

"No kidding." Ash agreed.

"I think I'd be glad Pikachu isn't here if I were you." May said with a slight nervous chuckle.

"Why's that?" Ash blinked at her densely.

She gestered with a nod of her head toward the pile of prey laying in the center of the camp. "This is a world of cats… I don't think that a Pikachu would do so well here."

Ash cocked his head. "Why not?"

May face-pawed (Me: Lol. Facepalmed but cat style. :D). "Think, Ash! Pikachu is a mouse and cats EAT mice!"

"Huh?" Ash blinked before his eyes grew in realization. "Oh! Uh, yeah… That wouldn't be good."

"AHHHHHHHH! This isn't logically possible!" A familiar voice cried as a small blue gray cat with a black dot on the bridge of his nose- like May had- ran into the clearing.

"I'd know that know-it-all voice anywhere!" May cried and ran to the cat. "Max! Max, is that you?!"

"May?!" Max asked in shock and looked up at her, his brown eyes gleaming. "How is this happening?!"

"I don't know." May shrugged. "Me and Ash are trying to figure that out too."

"Ash?" Max looked past May to look at him. "Whoa Ash! Why are you so fluffy?!"

Ash gave him a death glare. "For Mew's sake! I am NOT fluffy!"

Ignoring him, Max continued panicking. "So I'm not the ONLY one who's a cat… I wonder who else is like this. How did we get like this in the first place?!"

"I dunno." May shrugged and then smirked at her little brother. "You should be happy about this though."

"Huh?" Max blinked up at his sister. "Why should I be happy about becoming a cat?"

"Well, you don't need glasses anymore."

"That's right!" Max realized, pawing at his face as if feeling for glasses. "But I'd rather not be a cat still." He pouted.

"Beggers can't be choosers Max." May scolded.

"Max? Why do you keep calling your brother Max?" A random cat walked out of the den that Max had run out of and walked up to the group.

"Because that's his name…" May answered.

"No…" The cat gave her a weird look. "His name is Owlkit. You should know this Maypaw."

"OwlKIT?" Ash muttered in confusion.

"MayPAW?" Max looked at his paw.

"Geez, you cats act like you were born yesterday. Ashpaw, Maypaw, I believe you're expected to go on the Dawn Patrol today. The walk out of camp may do a world of good for your foggy minds." The cat said in a soothing, motherly voice.

They all stared at her with blank stares.

"AshPAW?" May muttered with a confused look at Ash.

"As for you, mister." She looked down at Max. "You need to come back into the den." She reached down at picked him up by the scruff.

"Hey! Put me down!" He whined and struggled in her grip. "I need to go explore and figure out what's going on!"

"You'll be an apprentice soon enough Owlkit," the cat murmured though his fur in her mouth. "You can explore then."

"But I wanna explore now!" Max protested as he was carried back into the den by the cat.

When they had gone, May stared at the ground in shock. "That's not our mother…" She said.

"Everyone seems to know us. It's almost like we've been here the whole time without realizing it." Ash realized.

"COME ON YOU TWO CHATTERING STARLINGS! HAVE YOU GOT BEES IN YOUR BRAIN?!" The humongous cat from before yelled to them with another bone chilling glare. Another cat stood next to him but she wasn't nearly as big as him.

"Now they called us Starly AND suggested that we have Combee in our brains." Ash muttered.

May rolled her eyes. "Let's go and see what they want us to do."

The two cats walked across the camp to the ones waiting at the entrance, although having difficulty getting used to walking with their new legs.

"About time!" The male cat said in exasperation. "I thought I'd be an elder by the time you two got up! Now let's go, we're patrolling Shadowclan's border today."

Ash glanced at May. "Shadowclan?"

"Don't ask me! I'm just confused as you are!" May retorted.

"What?! You two know what Shadowclan is! Don't play dumb." The cat spat.

The female nudged him. "Give them a break Nightshade, they DID just become apprentices yesterday."

"Why is he named after a Pokemon move?" Ash mumbled to no one in particular.

Nightshade rolled his eyes. "A moon old kit knows what Shadowclan is though. You cut them too much slack, Foxheart and they're not even your apprentices. Anyways, let's get going. We've wasted too much time here." Nightshade lead the way out through a tunnel woven in brambles, Foxheart following close behind.

Ash and May followed but were still confused out of their minds.

Right as Ash started to go through the tunnel, he was pulled back and a sharp pain overtook him. He looked toward the source of his pain to see a tuft of his long fur caught on a bramble. "Help! I'm stuck! I can't get free!" Ash struggled and wailed in a panic.

May looked back at him in shock but Nightshade just rolled his eyes.

"Stop wailing like a kit and stay still." The cat spat and ripped Ash free of the bramble a bit harsher than he would have liked, leaving the fur tuft behind on the bramble. "Every cat knows to walk in the center of the tunnel." Nightshade grumbled as he walked back to the front of the patrol.

Ash glared daggers at him and followed slowly.

May bounced up to Ash. "Well, if you keep getting caught on the brambles you won't have to worry about being fluffy anymore." She giggled.

Ignoring her, Ash followed the two larger cats out of the tunnel, being careful to avoid the brambles.

The four cats walked together through the forest at a brisk pace; Nighshade walking at the head of the patrol with Foxheart by his side and Ash and May trailing behind looking at the scenery.

It was as if they were looking at a forest for the first time. Being cats, their senses were amplified, making every sound more clear and every scent all the more enjoyable. They could even smell the distinguished scents of the two cats in front of them. Not to mention the fact that without shoes, they could feel the soft earth beneath their pads as they walked.

"I think I may come to enjoy this!" May cheered, her voice breaking off as a rumbling sound came from her throat.

Ash laughed. "Did you just start purring May?"

She gave him a flustered look. "Shut up! I can't help it."

Ash laughed and accidently let out a _mrrow _in the middle of it.

The two stared at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing.

Nightshade rolled his eyes at the two. "They're going to scare away all the prey in the forest with how much noise they're making." He grumbled.

A growling sound suddenly filled the air, followed by a groan. Nightshade and Foxheart turned to see Ash with a disgruntled look on his face. "I'm hungry…" He complained.

"So am I…" May chimed in.

"This isn't a hunting patrol but we may be able to catch something on the way back from Shadowclan. Then you can eat when we return to camp." Foxheart said.

"Can't we eat NOW?!" Ash complained.

"The Warrior Code won't let us do that. Didn't you get taught that in the nursery?" Foxheart asked with narrowed eyes.

"Huh?" Ash asked.

"Shh." Nightshade said sharply and raised his tail for silence. "I smell something."

Foxheart lifted her head and sniffed the air. "Shadowclan." She bristled.

Ash and May mimicked the other cats. "There's so many scents that I can't tell which one they're talking about…" May sighed.

"We aren't even close to their border yet so they must be intruding." Nightshade bristled and bared his fangs. "Let's go." He broke into a run with Foxheart hard on his paws.

Ash and May exchanged confused glances before following as fast as they could.

Foxheart and Nightshade stopped running and crouched behind a bush, slowly and stealthily creeping under it. May arrived next, getting a little used to moving around on her new cat paws with the occasional tripping. Ash then FINALLY arrived a significant amount of time after May. He was breathing heavily and his fur had pieces of twigs, moss and dirt ensnared in it from the multiple times that he tripped.

"This… is getting annoying…" Ash grumbled breathlessly.

May smirked at him and opened her mouth to say something but after receiving a look from him that dared her to speak, she closed it again.

May just smiled her bubbly smile and followed the older cats under the bush.

Ash started to follow but didn't get very far as his fur got caught again. "Argh! Stupid long fur!" He spat in irritance, receiving a sharp look from Nightshade.

"Be quiet!"

Ash grumbled softly as he tugged on his fur with his paws to get it unhooked.

The four cats hid under the bush and watched as a patrol of 3 strange smelling cats came into view.

"Ow! How does Thunderclan even move through all of this?" One of the cats spat as he tripped on a bramble.

"They probably ask the same question about our marshes." The other cat smirked.

"Who cares what that stupid clan thinks?" The third cat spat. He was smaller than the other two- about Ash and May's size- and almost looked like he had purple fur with dark eyes. His voice sounded familiar as well.

"That almost sounds like Paul…" Ash muttered.

"Lighten up Coldpaw." The smirking cat said as they continued walking.

"Nope, it can't be him. They didn't say 'Paulpaw'." Ash answered himself, starting to see the pattern of the 'paws'.

"Well Max was named 'Owlkit' remember? I guess some names just change even though our's didn't." May answered him.

"Be quiet!" Nightshade hissed again and the two shut up instantly.

Foxheart glanced at Nightshade swiftly, crouching and tensing her muscles before glancing at Ash and May. "You two stay here and watch us since you've had no battle training yet. If we need help we'll tell you to run and get it."

"I don't think we'll need help with just two warriors and an apprentice…" Nightshade mumbled.

"I've had battle training!" Ash protested, looking insulted.

"She's probably talking about cat battle training, not Pokemon." May pointed out softly.

"Oh yeah…" Ash realized.

Foxheart just gave them a weird look before the two older cats shared another glance and then both leaped out simultaneously, yowling battle cries.

Ash and May just stayed in the bush and watched in shock.

Nightshade and Foxheart leaped in front of the patrol. "What are you doing on Thunderclan territory?!" Nightshade snarled.

_'So we live in Thunderclan and Paul is in Shadowclan…' _Ash made a mental note as he tried to absorb everything.

"Just taking a nice stroll and wondering when you lazy tree dwellers would patrol the border. We even had time to catch a thrush or two. Disgusting things… Who would want to munch on feathers?" The tom who had tripped on the brambles said coyly.

"Look who's talking, you crow-food eaters! Go back to where you belong!" Nightshade spat, unsheathing his claws.

"Make us." The tom snorted.

With that, Nightshade yowled and leaped into the tom, bowling him over with his larger size and battering him with his claws.

Foxheart jumped into action and started clawing and biting at the other cat.

Paul just stood away from the battle a few feet and stared on with emotionless eyes. "All of them are weaklings." He growled.

Nightshade slashed at the cat he was attacking and a little blood landed in front of the bush where a horrified Ash and May were sitting.

"A-Ash? ….Paw?" May whimpered slightly, her large eyes glued to the horrible scene before them.

"Y-yeah May? …Paw. Geez, it's gonna be hard to get used to calling you guys those names." Ash muttered.

"Th-this is horrible!" May gasped.

"I know! I've never seen any Pokemon battles get THIS violent!" Ash added.

"We have to find everyone and get out of here as soon as we can." May said.

"Yeah, but how?" Ash asked.

Neither of them had an answer for that. All they could do was stare at the battle before them and wonder how in Mew's name they would turn back into humans

* * *

_**Sorry if the blood part was a little disturbing but that's just a preview of what clan life is like. Oh and just to make this clear, this is NOT an Advanceshipping story. Even though Ash and May are sticking together, it's because they're in this together- with Max of course. Misty is to come in later and May will have a shipping for herself as well. Please review and lemmie know what you thought. ;D**_


	2. Chapter 2- Brock the She-Cat-Izer

_**Here's another chapter of this. Next stop, working on the next update of Undercover in Unova! :D Brock is basically a chapter hog here but... Whatevz. Hope you enjoy the randomness of this chapter. Review at the end and lemmie know what'cha thought. ^^  
**_

_**Oh and for those who care, Ash is a Black Himalayan and Nightshade is a Black Maine Coon. The rest are random cats.  
**_

_**Just a reminder...  
**_

_**I role played Ash, Brock, Max, Nightshade and Jayfeather  
**_

_**My friend role played May, Foxheart and Tigerkit.  
**_

_**Chapter 2**_

Foxheart and Nightshade had sent the Shadowclan cats running back to their territory and the patrol had started back to camp.

Ash and May were silent as they were still in shock by how violent the cats were. Their words didn't help much either.

Foxheart pawed at her nose with a slight wince.

"What's wrong?" Nightshade asked her with the shadow of a concerned look on his face.

"My nose just hurts." She shrugged and stopped pawing at it.

"You're bleeding." Nightshade stated. "Be sure to go to Jayfeather when we get back to camp."

Ash and May exchanged a look. "Great… More names to learn." May muttered.

"But I don't want him to heal me TOO well." Foxheart protested. "I want some battle scars." She beamed

"Battle scars?!" May whispered to Ash in horror.

"Don't worry," Nightshade said. "I'm sure you'll have plenty. And you definitely gave that Shadowclan cat some wounds to remember." He smirked.

A purr rumbled in Foxheart's throat at the praise.

Suddenly a girlish scream filled the air, stirring up some of the birds. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BEAUTIFUL FACE?! I'M A DISGUSTING CAT!"

"What in Starclan's name was that?" Foxheart wondered.

Nightshade scoffed. "It sounded like a kitty pet to me…"

Ash and May looked at each other. "That scream… Didn't that sound like Dawn to you?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, sure sounded like something she would say too." May rolled her eyes. "It looks like she turned into a cat as well. Maybe now she'll stop going on about how gorgeous she looks."

Ash scoffed. "I doubt it."

May laughed. "Yeah, you're right." The patrol continued to make their way back to camp.

As they walked back through the thorn tunnel, May had to unhook Ash's fur from the brambles again.

He grumbled irritably when he was freed from the thorns. "I'm a mess from getting caught and falling all the time."

"Yeah, your fur is filthy." May pointed out.

"Well, what am I supposed to do about it?" Ash wailed.

May rolled her eyes again. "Haven't you ever seen a cat before, Ash?"

"No…" Ash admitted.

"Well cats clean their fur with their tongue and get all the dirt and twigs out." May explained.

"My tongue?!" Ash spat in disgust. "Yuck!"

"Just watch how the others are doing it." May suggested as she noticed two cats cleaning one another.

Ash suddenly looked at her with her with wide, pleading eyes. "Can you do it for me?"

"NO!" May spat in disgust and leaped away from him.

"Why not?!" He whined.

"Well for one, I have to clean my own fur." She started and counted off reasons on her cat toes. "For another, if I do it for you once then you'll expect me to do it every time so that YOU don't have to. You have to do it yourself, you lazy butt."

He grumbled.

She ignored him and continued. "And finally… Misty would kill me if I did that…" She muttered this part softly.

"Huh? Why would Misty kill you?" He asked densely.

"N-no reason!" May sweat dropped and waved her paws in front of her face. She was determined to keep her best friend's secret.

Before Ash could press his questioning any more, a familiar voice filled the air and they turned to see a very recognizable scene.

A sleek brown cat with squinty black eyes was clasping a female cat's paw in his own and stating his undying love for her.

"S-sorry, I already have a mate…" The cat sweat dropped and the brown cat suddenly received a glare from the she-cat's mate as she was led away from him. The crestfallen brown cat's head drooped.

"Rejected again… Will I ever find happiness?" He moaned depressively.

"I think we've found Brock…" May stated with a sweat drop.

Ash nodded. "No kidding…"

Another she-cat passed by Brock and he shot up and ran to her, already recovered from his rejection from the previous cat. "You have captured my heart with your luminous beauty! You shine so brightly that you put the sun to shame!"

"Uhh…" The cat blinked in shock.

Suddenly a cat with cloudy blue eyes padded out to Brock and swiped his ears with his paw and hissed, "Rockpaw! You're a Medicine Cat Apprentice! You can't have a mate!" He scolded. "Go make yourself useful and gather some Tansy and Marigold from the territory." With that, he walked back to the den.

"Yes, Jayfeather…" Brock mumbled dejectedly.

"So Brock's 'cat name' is Rockpaw then?" Ash asked May.

She shrugged. "I guess." The two started toward the depressed cat.

"Hey Brocko." Ash said as they reached him.

Brock's head snapped up. "Ash? Is that you?"

"Yep." He answered with a grin.

"And it's me, May." May piped up with a bubbly smile. "Max is here with us too."

"Plus we think we heard Dawn screaming when we were on patrol." Ash added.

May rolled her eyes playfully. "Something about her good looks being ruined."

Brock laughed. "That sounds like Dawn alright." He smiled widely at the two. "Ah man, it's great to know that I'm not alone in this."

"Yeah, we're all in this together." Ash agreed.

May smirked at Brock. "But you don't seem too upset about it. You're getting pretty well aquainted with all the female cats here already."

"Never before did I realize how beautiful she-cats were!" Brock stated dramatically with hearts in his eyes.

The two sweat dropped with nervous chuckles.

"ROCKPAW!" Jayfeather yowled from the den. "Go get the herbs! You can chat later!"

"I've got to go." Brock stated regretfully. "We'll talk about this later."

"Alright, later Brock!" They called after him as he left the camp.

"In the meantime," May started.

"…What?" Ash blinked.

"Clean your fur." She ordered.

"Aw come on! I don't want to." Ash whined.

"Do you want to be filthy forever?" May asked in a motherly tone.

He shrugged. "I'll just get dirty again…"

May sighed in exasperation. "If only Misty was here, she could get him to do it…" She muttered and started to clean herself, wrinkling her nose at the taste of her fur but ignoring it and continuing.

Ash finally decided to do it and had a similar but more dramatic reaction than May's.

Not even half way through the cleaning, Ash stopped. "I'm hungry!" He complained.

"I am too." May sighed as she finished her cleaning. Her eyes scanned the camp and caught the pile of prey in the middle. "Look, you finish cleaning yourself and I'll get prey for us from… that pile. I guess that's what we have to eat as cats…" She bounded off to the pile.

Ash groaned and reluctantly continued his cleaning. He had obviously wanted an excuse to stop.

May came back with a mouse and a starling. She dropped them in between her and Ash. "These were the biggest ones I could find." She stated.

Ash stopped his cleaning and looked at the food excitedly. He then froze in horror, his eyes growing huge and his whole body trembling. "P-P-P-Pikachu?!" He stuttered with a trembling paw extended toward the mouse.

May looked at him weirdly but then looked at the mouse herself. Her eyes grew huge. "PIKACHU!" She gasped in horror, ignoring the strange looks they were getting from other cats.

The mouse looked exactly like Pikachu! Well… except for the fact that it was dead. But as suddenly as she had seen the mouse as Pikachu, it disappeared, leaving a regular mouse in its place again. May blinked. _'Were we imagining things?!' _

"Ash, look again. It's not really Pikachu." She assured him.

He was still horrified and shook his head.

"We can't keep imagining that the food is our Pokemon or we'll starve to death, we have to get used to this food." May said.

Ash shook his head and looked away with glazed eyes. "I'm not hungry…"

Ash said the three words that no one expected he would EVER say. "Here, take the bird then." May pushed her starling toward him. "I'll eat the mouse."

He looked at the bird. "Argh! Now that reminds me of my bird Pokemon!" He wailed.

"Ash, just imagine it as chicken or something." May tried to help.

Ash looked at May sympathetically. "B-but your Torchic!"

"I know Ash. Just forget Pokemon ever existed and eat." May said and started to eat the mouse hesitantly.

Ash bit into the bird with a grave expression. Suddenly the two brightened up. The food was amazingly tasty due to their new cat taste buds. They started gobbling down the prey, forgetting about their Pokemon logic.

"Mmm! Starly tastes great!" Ash said with a full mouth.

"Oh boy…" May muttered.

Foxheart padded up to the medicine cat. "Jayfeather! My nose hurts!" She whined.

The blind Medicine Cat sniffed the air. "I smell blood, I bet it hurts. I'll be back." He went into the den to get herbs.

"Thanks!" Foxheart said and sat patiently.

Brock walked past Foxheart to the den with his jaws full of herbs. He saw her and dropped the herbs. "My sweet Foxheart! What happened to your nose?!"

"Uh…" She blushed slightly in shock. "I busted it. I'm okay though." She gave him a sweet look. "Thanks for caring Rockpaw."

Brock was about to respond but was cut off as Nightshade walked up to them.

"Hey Foxheart, I just came in to check up on you." Nightshade greeted.

"Hey! I was the one who was worried about her!" Brock snapped.

Nightshade gave him a death glare that could scare away a Gyarados. "Okay." Brock said meekly and cowered down before the humongous tom.

Foxheart smiled. "Awww! Nightshade! You really do have a heart!"

Nightshade stared at her expressionlessly. "Thanks…"

"What about me?! I cared about you first!" Brock whined.

"Yeah, but he NEVER cares!" She sweat dropped before smiling at Brock. "You are very sweet." She flicked him with her tail.

"Really?!" Brock asked, obviously surprised. Brock heard Jayfeather coming out of the den so he took the opportunity to quickly invite Foxheart to go to the lake with him that night.

"Uh… I guess." Foxheart sweat dropped.

Jeafeather exited the den with the herbs and put them down. "Good, you're back Rockpaw. Help me out with this treatment,will you?"

"Of course." He went to his mentor's side. "What do you need me to do?"

"I'll chew this into a poultice and you apply it to the wound on Foxheart's nose."

"Alright! I'll treat her gorgeous, delicate nose. It would be an honor!" Brock swooned.

Jayfeather hissed and swatted his head. "On second thought, YOU chew the poultice!"

Brock's head drooped in disappointment. "Yes Jayfeather." He moped and chewed the leaves downheartedly.

Nightshade eyed Brock coldly before turning to Foxheart. "After you're treated, do you want to share some fresh-kill?"

"Sure!" Foxheart said cheerfully and twined her tail with his.

"Not again…" Brock's face fell with his ears and tail drooping.

Jayfeather glared at Brock irritably. "Hurry up with that poultice! We'll all be elders before you finish!"

Brock forced himself to hurry to please his mentor. "Here…"

Jayfeather took the poultice and applied it to Foxheart's nose. "And here's a couple Poppy Seeds for pain, but not enough to put you to sleep."

"Thank you!" Foxheart responded before glancing at Brock. "What's wrong?"

Brock sat up straight and tried to look as if nothing happened. "Nothing at all! Don't worry about me!"

Nightshade smirked at Brock darkly.

"Too late…" Foxheart pouted.

"Alright, that's enough chit-chat. Everyone out of here." Jayfeather said, annoyed.

"What would you like from the fresh-kill pile, Foxheart?" Nightshade asked as he went to leave with the shadow of a smile.

"I don't know…" Foxheart huffed.

"Okay then… Whatever. We'll grab anything that catches our eye, I guess."

"Like a finch!" Foxheart piped up.

"Yeah… Sure, whatever you want." Nightshade muttered.

Foxheart scowled as she started out of the den. "Yeah… Let's go…"

The two warriors went out to the fresh-kill pile and grabbed a finch for the two of them to share. They layed down outside of the Warrior's den.

"So, your nose feeling any better?" Nightshade asked.

Foxheart pawed at it. "Yeah, I guess."

An apprentice that almost looked pink with fur in the style of Nurse Joy's hair stomped up to the two. "Hey… do you think the Medicine Cat can have two apprentices? Hmm Nightshade?" She asked grouchily.

From the corner of his eye, Nightshade saw Foxheart glare at Joypaw. "Hmm? There's never been two before but I guess that's something you'd have to discuss with Jayfeather…"

"Okay…" Joypaw answered downheartedly.

"Go away!" Foxheart snapped, making Joypaw cringe and Nightshade look at her in surprise.

"Okay…" Joypaw responded in a small voice, starting to tear up.

"I'm sorry!" Foxheart apologized. "I'm just grumpy…" She scowled again.

Nightshade looked slightly taken aback by Foxheart's outburst. "Grumpy because of the pain or something else…?" He turned back to Joypaw. "Have you talked to Jayfeather about it yet? Your only hope of becoming a Medicine Cat Apprentice may be if Rockpaw decides to become a Warrior Apprentice for whatever reason."

Joypaw gained a dark look on her face. "Okay… then that's my goal!" With that, she ran to the Medicine den.

"Ah what a beautiful day," Brock stated with a content sigh.

"Yes, it is." Jayfeather agreed as he sorted herbs.

"Beautiful day, beautiful she-cats-" Brock was cut off as Jayfeather's paw swiped his ears painfully. He whimpered in pain momentarily before continuing. "Beautiful sun, beautiful weather… gorgeous she-ca-" Before he could even finish, Jayfeather swiped his ears again.

"You're a Medicine Cat Apprentice. You can't swoon over she-cats!" He hissed and walked into the storage part of the Medicine den.

Brock groaned again.

"Hello…" Joypaw said as she approached Brock, the dark look still intact.

"Joypaw!" His eyes sparkled. "What brings YOU here this fine morning? Are you hurt?!"

"No… You need to become a Warrior Apprentice." She stated.

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

Joypaw's eyes suddenly twinkled as she stared at Brock lovingly. "Because… That's the only way we can be together." Her tail brushed against his cheek.

He blushed madly under his pelt. "I, uh-"

Jayfeather padded out of the den behind them. "Hey Joypaw, need anything?"

"I CAN'T BE A MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE ANYMORE!" Brock blurted out.

"What? Why the Dark Forest not?!" Jayfeather spat with a suspicious glance in Joypaw's general direction.

One of the clan members was passing by the den when Jayfeather had said this. "DARK FOREST?!" They screamed and fainted.

"…" Jayfeather stared pathetically.

"Oh no!" Joypaw cried and rushed to the cat's aid with some herbs, reviving it. "~Doo doo doo doo doo~" She hummed the Pokemon Centre healing music.

"Hey! Thanks!" The cat said, leaping up.

"Thanks for waiting." She bowed her head. "We hope to see you again."

"…Okay Rockpaw, you're fired." Jayfeather padded up to Joypaw. "How were you able to heal that cat with no training?"

"I've always had a knack for it." She responded in a bubbly voice.

"How would you like to become my new apprentice?" He offered.

"Oh, I want that." She said with a wide smile.

"WHAAAAA?! But Joypaw, my sweet! I thought you said that I needed to stop being a Medicine Cat Apprentice so that we could be together!" Brock wailed.

"Oh yeah, right. Now that you're not a Medicine Cat Apprentice anymore, you can finally get a mate… And stop annoying me with it." Jayfeather said, muttering the last part.

Joypaw looked at Brock with wide, innocent eyes. "Oh, did I say that?" She chuckled. "Silly silly tom. I'm a Medicine Cat."

"Burn!" Jayfeather cackled.

Brock's face fell with his ears and tail drooping as a depessive cloud hung over him. "Rejected again." He moaned.

A gray tabby she-kit with one blue and one green eye ran in. "Jayfeather! My paw!"

"Oh, you poor kit!" Joypaw gasped.

"No!" She pouted. "I'm about to be an apprentice!"

Brock felt as if his heart had been captured by this beautiful she-cat. He ran to her in a flash, already over his rejection from Joy, and took one of her paws in his. "How is it that I never met such a beautiful cat as yourself before?! You eyes are like the forest and lake, entwined in purrfect harmony!"

"Here we go again…" Jayfeather grumbled. "At least I don't have to put up with it anymore."

"Uhh… Thanks?" The kit blinked rapidly in surprise.

"Anyways, let's get that thorn out of your paw, Tigerkit. Rockpaw, you should go meet the other apprentices." Jayfeather turned to Joypaw. "Joypaw, do you know how to treat this case?"

"Well, Poppy Seeds are for pain and Marigold to fight infection." Joypaw recited.

Tigerkit glanced at Rockpaw. "Oh! My paww! Ohhh!" She started swaying around, feining terrible pain.

"Are you alright?!" Brock asked frantically.

"Rockpaw, leave. We need room to work." Jayfeather growled, his patience snapping. "Yes Joypaw, that is correct. But first we must get the thorn out of her paw. You start chewing the poultice and I'll get it out. Then you can give her Poppy Seeds and I'll apply the poultice." He instructed.

Brock finally backed out of the den, disappointed. He turned to go look for Ash, May and Max.

"Bye Rockpaw!" Tigerkit called before shouting out in pain as the long thorn was pulled out of her paw.

Jayfeather disposed of the thorn and then applied the chewed poultice to her wound. "Alright, now give her some Poppy Seeds, but just enough to take away her pain."

"Huh?" Brock turned as he heard Tigerkit call his 'cat name'. "Oh! Farewell, delicate flower!"

"My name's Tigerki-" She started but was choked off as a HUGE pawful of Poppy Seeds was shoved down her throat.

"SHE'S IN SO MUCH PAIN!" Joypaw said like a frantic mad-woman as she shoved the seeds down Tigerkit's throat.

Jayfeather blinked with a sweat drop at the scene. "Uhh… I don't think she needed THAT much… She'll sleep well tonight." He muttered the last part.

"Sorry!" Joypaw frowned.

Tigerkit passed out instantly. "Rockpaw?" She turned over in her sleep and muttered. "Am I really a flower?"

"Is that normal?" Joypaw asked.

"Rockpaw got to her head apparently, who knows how normal she'll be…" Jayfeather snorted.

"Kay…" Joypaw sweat dropped.

"So I learned some information while you guys were gone." Max stated as the group sat under the shade of a small brush to talk.

"You learned it while you were stuck in that den?" May smirked.

"No," Max pouted. "The cat let me go talk to the elders after she forced me to have a quick nap- which I faked." He beamed proudly.

"So…" May rolled her eyes at her brother's childishness. "What did you learn?"

"Well, there's basically four clans. Thunderclan- the one we're in, Riverclan, Windclan and Shadowclan." Max started.

"We just met Shadowclan!" May gasped.

"I heard that they are no good crow-food eaters… what ever that is." Max said.

"They got into a fight with our patrol." Ash said.

"What?!" Max's eyes became huge. "You guys got into a fight?!"

"Nah, the other cats did." Ash explained.

"But it was horrible!" May cried.

Ignoring her, Max went on. "But besides those four clans, there's one that they all worship. It's called Starclan. I'm guessing that it would be the equivilant of Arceus for us."

"And what else?" May pressed.

"Nothing much. Except a strict rule system called the 'Warrior Code' and some stories of really scary cats here and there." Max shrugged.

"I bet none are as scary as that Nightshade cat…" May shuddered.

"I still can't believe that he has the name of a Pokemon move…" Ash muttered.

Max ignored them again and continued. "So now we just need to figure out what could have caused us to get here and turn into cats… What do you guys remember happening before we woke up like this?"

"Well, we were on a ship while it was storming and I passed out all of a sudden." Ash said.

"I remember seeing a bright light under the water. It almost looked like a Pokemon…" May mused.

"And we were given tickets to go to some kind of party." A voice spoke behind them.

They all turned. "Brock!"

May smirked at him. "All done flirting with the female cats, Brock?"

"Nope! Not by a long shot!" Brock stated, making them all sweat drop. "But I need to be a part of this discussion."

Ash smiled at him. "Great to have you Brocko."

Brock grinned back at Ash before his expression became serious.

"That's right!" Max realized. "We WERE all given tickets to some party!"

"And it included a lot of the people that Ash knew from all of the different regions. Who in the world knew all of Ash's friends? They didn't even leave their name on the invitation! But we all shrugged it off and went anyways. Then all of this happened." Brock summed up his thoughts.

May gasped. "Do you think that it was a trap?"

"It would make sense if it was… But how did we get to this different demension?" Max asked.

"Did you say different demension, Max?" Brock inquired.

"Yeah," Max blinked and looked around at all the cats. "It sure seems like it at least. How else would rare creatures in the Pokemon world be gathered together in large groups or even more importantly, how did we turn into them?"

"Ash," he turned to his friend, "do you remember Palkia?"

"Yeah… From Alimose Town. It took us to another demension right?"

"Right."

"I've heard of Palkia! That makes sense!" Max agreed excitedly.

"Or this could be one big nightmare!" May suggested with wide eyes.

"… That we all share? Come on May, don't be stupid." Max huffed.

"Hey! Take that back!" May yowled and bowled her brother over.

"Hey! Get off of me May!"

"Darkrai!" Ash suddenly blurted out.

The two siblings stopped fighting and looked at him in confusion. "Darkrai?" They asked.

"Yeah, he can make people and Pokemon have bad dreams." Brock explained.

"So it COULD be a shared nightmare after all." May boasted and beamed at Max.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now will ya' get off me already?" Max grumbled.

"Say it first." May demanded.

"Wha-? Say what?"

"Say that I was right and I'll let you go." May bargained.

"There's no way that I'm ever saying that!" Max protested.

"Fine," May looked away stubbornly, "then there's no way that I'm getting up."

"I'm not saying it!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Brock sighed and glanced at Ash. "They're almost as bad as you and Misty. Note that I said ALMOST, no one could be worse than you two at bickering."

Instead of delivering a retort, Ash wondered where Misty was. _'If she was here then shouldn't we have seen her by now? She'd be freaking out like the rest of us…'_

"Alright you two," Brock finally spoke up, jerking Ash out of his thoughts. "Let's continue figuring this out."

"Fine, I'll let it go for now." May sighed and leaped off of Max.

He stood up, shook his fur out and glared at her. "Gee thanks May." His voice was laced with sarcasm. "You're just lucky that mom and dad aren't here or-"

"-You would tell on me." May finished for him. "Excuse me but we have bigger problems."

"GUYS!" Brock snapped.

They looked at him with wide eyes. "Sorry."

He sighed. "What are we going to do now?"

"Find a way to get back somehow." May shrugged. "Maybe the answer will come to us. But I'm surprised that you want to go back so badly Brock." She smirked at the doctor cat. "You seem so happy chasing female cats here."

"Although they too are beautiful, they are nothing compared to human girls!" Brock wailed, making the group sweat drop.

"Right…" They all muttered.

"But I think that we need to travel outside of these clans to find our answers. If it IS a different demension then we shouldn't be able to get past a certain point like in Alomose town." Brock rationalized.

"When should we go?" Max asked.

"How about tonight? We'll sneak out and explore. But don't be too conspicuous or we may be stopped from leaving." Brock motioned them all closer into a huddle to avoid any other ears hearing. "Any questions so far?"

Ash raised his paw.

"Yes, Ash?"

He put his paw down. "What does con…spice…ose mean?"

The other three face-pawed. "That's conspicuous Ash." Brock answered. "It means to not be too obvious."

"Oh okay." Ash smiled cheekily. "I knew that."

They all groaned.

"Moving on…" Brock looked around the camp. "Find any secret exits that there may be."

Ash raised his paw again, making Brock suppress a groan. "Yes Ash?"

"What time do we meet?"

It seemed like a logical question but Brock was stumped.

"Ash! We're cats, there's no clocks here!" Max pointed out in a tone that implied Ash was an idiot- which he was but that was beside the point.

"Just use the sun and moon!" May piped in. "We didn't always go by time when traveling either. Why don't we meet when everyone seems to be asleep and the moon is high in the sky?"

Max opened his mouth but May shot him a glare before he could speak. "If you call my idea stupid again, I'll make sure that the cat mom keeps you in that den."

Before another argument could start, Brock spoke up. "So we're all agreed on the plan right? Let the group know when you've found an exit."

"Right." They all agreed.

"Now, if you'll excuse me…" Brock began to back away from the group, making them give him curious stares. "I'm going to go enjoy the company of the she-cats here now that I'm free of being a medicine cat. YAHOO!" With that, he ran to a random she-cat with a dust cloud following behind him and started flirting.

Max sighed. "Just like the old days…" He muttered before padding to Brock and yanking him away by the ear with the one thing he knew how to grab with as a cat: his teeth.

"OWOWOWOWOWOW! That's worse than any other ear pulling! Cut it out!" Brock cried, making the she-cat sweat drop.

"This isn't working…" Max muttered and let go of Brock's ear, making the older trainer sigh in relief. "Here we go!" He grabbed Brock's ear with his claws this time and drug him away flailing.

"OWOWOWOWOWOW! This isn't any better! Let go!" Brock continued wailing. Ash and May sweat dropped at the sight.


	3. Chapter 3- The Journey

_**Here's the next chapter. This part wasn't in the original role play and acts as a filler chapter. The next two will have relatively fast updates because they're straight from the role play but we never continued after that so it's all me writing after the next two chapter. Just one more chapter until my all-time favorite part. xD Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Oh and sorry on the slight attack on Dawn but I really don't like her. Too girly. -_-  
**_

* * *

_**Chapter 3- The Journey**_

Nighttime rolled around and all the cats went into their respective dens to go to sleep. Ash, May and Brock laid awake in the 'Apprentices Den'; waiting for the perfect opportunity to sneak out. Max was unfortunately stuck in the 'Nursery' because he was a 'kit'.

Brock was staring out in the direction of the Medicine Den with a scowl.

May padded up to him. "Shouldn't we have Joy come with us?" She asked.

Brock shook his head with a frown. "We can come back and tell everyone how to get out when we find out. That and-" He started crying anime waterfall tears, "-she tricked me! I thought she loved me and all she wanted was my medicine position."

"Aren't you used to that by now?" Ash asked with a sweat drop, lying on his back and tilting his head back to look at his friends.

May giggled. "Showin' off your fluff Ash?" She asked, referring to his fluffy underbelly.

"No!" Ash rolled back to his feet with an annoyed huff. "I am SO tired of being called 'fluffy'! I'm tired of being a cat, period. Let's get out of here."

"Keep it down!" Brock and May hissed simultaneously before glancing outside of the den. It was a lucky break that they were the only apprentices in there at that time.

"Can we go yet?" Ash groaned with a slightly lowered voice.

"Not yet… Let's wait a little while longer just to be safe. Be sure to stay quiet or it'll take longer." Brock stated.

Ash just grumbled and lay down.

The time drew on and seemed like forever for Ash. But finally Brock silently signaled for them to follow him out of the den.

"Finally!" Ash sighed. The two glared at him and put their paws to their mouths to gesture for silence. The three then crept out of the den with Brock in the lead and kept to the shadows cast from the cliff walls. When they passed the Nursery, Max appeared and joined the line wordlessly.

"Where are we going?" Ash whispered, shutting up after receiving a glare from all three of his friends and more shushing gestures.

Brock faced forward again and pointed toward a certain area with his paw.

They reached the area and all of the cats scrunched up their noses in disgust from the stench it produced.

Ash opened his mouth to comment but was cut off my Max putting a paw over it.

Brock slowly made his way through the stinky minefield with a grimace and squeezed out of a hole in the back. May and Max followed with the same expressions and Ash practically ran through it. When Ash squeezed out of the hole, he ran a short distance away from it and gagged.

The three shushed him again and Brock ran into the trees, trying to find a way around the cat on guard outside of the camp.

When they were sure they were a safe distance away from the camp, Brock sighed. "Sorry about that escape route guys." He apologized softly. "That was the only way out I could find."

"What was that disgusting place anyways?" Ash asked, gagging again at the thought. "It smelled worse than a sewer full of Muk."

"That," Max raised a paw as if raising a finger in his usual know-it-all fashion, "would be the Dirt Tunnel."

"Dirt Tunnel?" Ash and May asked and cocked their heads to one side.

"Yeah. It's the place where the cats go to… You know, do their business." Max explained.

"Oh," May sweat dropped. "I wondered where we would do that here. I thought we'd just go in the forest though.

"GROSS!" Ash screeched, a little too loudly. "Why don't they have bathrooms or something?!"

May rolled her eyes at Ash fondly with a smirk. "You really don't know anything about cats, do you?"

Ash shook his head sheepishly.

"Well if we get out of here, none of that will matter anyways." Brock pointed out as he continued to lead. After a while he stopped.

"What's up Brocko?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, why'd we stop?" May asked.

Brock turned to them with a sweat drop and a sheepish grin. "I have NO idea where we're going." He stated, making the others fall over anime style.

"ARE YOU KIDDING?!" Ash screeched.

"Well we haven't explored very much…" May pointed out to defend Brock.

"Yeah, and I don't have my Poke'Nav anymore either." Max added.

"Well I think we go…" Ash looked around. "…That way!" He bolted off in a random direction.

"Ash, wait up! You can't just run around here carelessly! We know nothing about this world!" Brock called and chased after him.

"Oh well," May sweat dropped. "Maybe if we keep going a certain direction we'll get through the forest." May said with a nervous smile.

"With Ash leading us," Max huffed, "I highly doubt it."

The two ran to catch up to their friends.

As they were following Ash's lead through the forest, a familiar and girlish voice filled the air.

"Hey! You cats over there! I need to talk to you!"

They all turned to see a blue-gray cat with long fur and two golden hair barrettes holding up part of her fur- much like Dawn's hair style- running up to them. As she made her way over, she could be heard complaining about all of the brambles, dirt and grass messing up her fur.

She finally reached them. "I'm Dawn and I'm looking for some friends of mine."

"Dawn? Well I'm Ash; and this is May, Max and Brock." Ash gestured to each of them.

"Oh! It's you guys!" Dawn said happily. "I knew that you would come and find me Ashy!" She was at his side in a heartbeat, brushing her tail against him in a flirting matter.

Ash sweat dropped. "Ummm…. We just happened to come by…" He tried to scoot away from her. "We snuck away and we're trying to get out of here."

"Oh me too!" Dawn nodded. "I woke up as a CAT! Can you imagine it?!"

May laughed. "Actually… yeah we can."

Dawn ignored her and went on. "My looks are ruined!" She wailed before pulling a disgusted face. "And to make things worse, a person was touching me!"

"Person? There are people here?" May asked in surprise.

"Yeah…" Dawn gave her a strange look.

"So you weren't in one of the clans then?" Max asked.

"Clans? What are you talking about? I was in a house with a person expecting me to eat KIBBLE out of a cat bowl!"

"She must have been a pet then." Brock confirmed.

"WHAT?!" She screeched. "I am NO ONE'S pet!" She looked away in disgust and started grooming herself.

"Well, we gotta go Dawn." Ash said and started leading the way again.

"No way that you're leaving me behind! I'm coming with!" Dawn insisted.

"As long as you don't mind getting dirty trekking through the forest." May pointed out.

Dawn pulled a disgusted face again before sighing. "Fine… If it'll turn me back into a human I'll do it."

Ash just shrugged and continued to lead.

"Ugh! We're lost!" Max spat. "Again!"

"We're not lost," Ash huffed, "I know exactly where I'm going!"

"Then why aren't we out of the forest?" Max sneered.

"I-I'm getting there!" Ash yelled, flustered.

Brock sighed. "Even without Misty here, Ash STILL has to argue with someone."

May looked at Brock with wide eyes. "Actually, Max has been acting more like Misty ever since we saw her last. He really admires her."

Brock smirked. "Admires? I'd say he has a little crush on her?"

May laughed. "Ash sure wouldn't like that, would he?"

"Nope. But he'll never admit it."

"Who's Misty? And why wouldn't Ash like that?" Dawn asked the two, narrowing her sapphire eyes.

Brock and May exchanged a look. "Misty is a girl who me and Ash used to travel with." Brock explained cautiously.

Before Dawn could press further, Ash interrupted them.

"Hey look!" Ash's voice cut into their conversation. "I see light! I told you guys I knew where I was going!" With that he broke into a run toward the break in the tree line.

The others followed eagerly.

When they made their way out of the tree line, they came into a clearing with a shimmering pond down a sandy path.

"Wow! It's so beautiful!" May swooned as she looked at the pond. It had a mythical glow to it and drew the group closer.

"That's amazing!" Ash agreed before sticking his tongue out slightly. "But seeing it reminds me of how thirsty I am."

"Why don't we take a break here?" Brock suggested.

"And sit down in the sand?! Are you kidding me?" Dawn complained.

The group rolled their eyes at her.

They were all glad to oblige to Brock's request- all except for Dawn of course- and started making their way down the sandy path, drawn to the pond like a Mothim to a flame.

After taking their places by it; they all started to drink the soothing, ice cold water. But just as soon as they withdrew their tongues, darkness swallowed all of them.

Ash opened his eyes to see a cat sitting right in front of him. "Who are you?" He asked.

The cat just stared at him silently, her eyes containing a strange sparkle of emotion to them. He couldn't help but just stare at her. She had the most gorgeous sea green eyes he had ever seen in his life and orange fur to contrast them just perfectly. She looked so familiar but he couldn't put his paw on who she was.

She stared into his eyes sadly. _'You've forgotten me, haven't you?'_ A voice just as familiar as the cat herself rang in Ash's mind. Before he could question it, she disappeared and was replaced by darkness once again. He saw glowing amber eyes glare at him before he suddenly found himself blinking awake in the clearing with his friends just beginning to stir.

"Whoa, what a dream…" May said.

"Wait, you had a weird dream too?" Ash asked in shock.

May nodded, looking equally as shocked. "I saw two cats that seemed familiar. One looked-" she put on a strange face, "-green, with green eyes. And the other was kinda black with brown eyes." She shrugged.

"Wow, how weird! I saw a familiar cat too!" Ash gasped.

"I saw Tigerkit!" Brock swooned, appearing seemingly out of nowhere to leap dreamily in between them.

"I saw a bunch of male cats all over me!" Dawn boasted with her head raised high like her Piplup usually did. They all sweat dropped before turning to Max as he stirred.

"Well I didn't see any cats." Max stated, standing up. "But I saw Palkia."

"Really?!" Ash looked at him in shock.

Max nodded. "And a voice in my head said something weird. It said something about us not being able to return until our hearts are bound. I don't know. It made no sense to me."

"It sounds like we can't leave yet then." Brock said, snapping out of his love daze. "We might as well get back to the clan and stay put until we figure out how we can get back to our world."

The other three nodded. "I guess you're right…" Ash said with a sigh.

"Well I'm coming with you." Dawn stated stubbornly.

"Actually," Max laughed nervously as they made their way back the way they had come, "we snuck away and intend to sneak back in so we can't bring you with us or they'll know we snuck out."

The other three nodded in agreement.

Dawn fish-sighed. "Fine. But I'm finding you guys tomorrow okay?"

They just nodded as they made their way back to the place they met Dawn.

"See you guys tomorrow." She waved her tail.

"Enjoy eating cat food and being touched by a random stranger. We're gonna go eat good food." Ash snickered at Dawn.

The flustered she-cat glared at him. "That is NOT funny Ash Ketchum!"

"Yeah it is." Ash smirked.

"Come on; let's go before the sun comes up." Brock pushed Ash forward to avoid the argument going further.

"I'm coming tomorrow!" Dawn called after them before she ran back to her house.

"Do you think she'll find us?" May asked.

"Who knows?" Brock shrugged. "Let's just focus on hurrying back now." He looked up at the sky, which had started to grow a soft pink and light blue to indicate the near rising of the sun. "If we get caught, we may not be going anywhere for a while."

The group trekked on and barely made it back to their dens before cats started rising.

"Ah man, I'm beat." Ash groaned as he collapsed in the den.

"Me too!" May sighed and collapsed as well.

"That makes three of us." Brock said and lay next to them.

Right as the three closed their eyes, a voice rang loudly through the air.

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a meeting!"

The three groaned softly.

"We can't catch prey yet so that can't be us." Ash mumbled sleepily.

"Just ignore him and maybe he'll forget us and let us sleep." May said in a daze.

A cat stuck their head in the den. "Hey! Firestar called for a meeting! Don't be disrespectful to your leader!" She scolded. "And Rockpaw; it's important for you to be present. It's yours and Tigerkit's apprentice ceremony."

Brock shot right to his feet. "Tigerkit?! Oh boy!" He ran past the cat to exit the den, leaving a dust cloud.

The cat blinked before narrowing her eyes at the two sleeping lumps. "Get up you two before I drag you out."

Ash and May sighed before reluctantly stumbling to their feet and outside in a tired daze.

"I guess that's what we get for sneaking out…" May murmured.

The two joined the love-struck Brock in the crowd, who was staring at Tigerkit as her mother cleaned her for the ceremony.

The leader stood proudly on the Highledge as he looked down at the clan gathered before him. "Will Tigerkit, Harmonykit and Rockpaw please step forward?"

Tigerkit and her sister Harmonykit broke away from their mother's fickle cleaning and stepped into the clearing under the Highledge.

Brock still stared in a love-sick daze.

"Brock!" May yelled to snap him out of it. "He was calling you."

"Oh yeah, thanks." Brock ran forward to stand next to Tigerkit.

"Tigerkit, Harmonykit, you both will become Apprentices today. Are you ready?" Firestar asked.

They both nodded eagerly.

"Tigerkit, until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Tigerpaw and your mentor will be Nightshade." Firestar continued.

The dark warrior stepped forward from the crowd to touch noses with Tigerpaw.

"And Harmonykit, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Harmonypaw. Your mentor will be Foxleap." Firestar waited for the two to touch noses before he continued. "Rockpaw, it came to my attention that you resigned as a Medicine Cat Apprentice yesterday and passed the duties on to Joypaw. Are you sure that that is your final decision?"

Rockpaw glanced back at Jayfeather and Joypaw, who were sitting outside of the Medicine Den. He remembered all of what he went through and not being able to have a mate being a Medicine Cat. He sighed and turned back to Firestar. "Yes, that is my final decision." He confirmed.

"Alright, then your new mentor will be Foxheart." Firestar finished before leaping down from the Highledge.

"Sweet." Foxheart smiled.

"Oh wow! What an honor!" Brock swooned with hearts in his eyes as they touched noses ceremoniously.

Tigerpaw frowned as she watched them by the corner of her eye, her tail drooping.

Two cats walked up to Ash and May. "Alright, it's time for battle training you two." One of them said.

"Battle training? Alright!" Ash paw-pumped in the air.

The other cat let out a '_mrrow'_ of amusement at Ash's excitement. "Let's get going then."

The two she-cats lead the way out of the camp with Ash and May following behind.

"You know that 'Battle Training' is actually fighting right? Don't you remember how brutally they fought?" May asked him in a hushed voice.

"Oh yeah, I forgot…" Ash's ears drooped. "But you know what else I forgot?"

"What?"

"Breakfast." Ash groaned.

"That's right! We forgot to eat!" May cried.

"I'm so hungry!" Ash wailed.

The two cats turned around. "You can eat after training."

"But I'll be too weak from hunger to train." Ash whined with May nodding in agreement.

The two cats exchanged a look. "What are we gonna do with these two?" One sighed.

"Work extra hard and you can get an especially big fresh-kill from the pile." The other encouraged.

"Alright, let's just do it Ash." May sighed while clenching her stomach.

"Man, I don't know if I can survive that long without food." Ash said and mimicked May's actions.

"Alright, now pretend that I'm an enemy cat and I'll instruct you from there." One of the cats stood in a battle-ready stance across from Ash.

"Right," he got into the same stance, "and erm… what's your name again?"

The cat looked at him in shock. "Sandstorm! Your mentor!" The sandy she-cat said in exasperation. "How do you not remember me?!"

"W-we have kinda bad memories with names!" May defended Ash quickly.

"Huh? No I do-" Before Ash could finish, May leaped over to him and slapped her paw over his mouth.

"Sorry, I don't remember your name either." She sweat dropped and looked at the other cat.

"Squirrelflight." The ginger cat answered with slight annoyance. "YOUR mentor."

"Alright, I'll try to remember." She bounced back over to Squirrelflight with a nervous laugh.

"Let's get started." Sandstorm stated and looked at Ash expectantly.

Ash closed his eyes for a moment and tried to imagine that this was a Pokemon Battle and Sandstorm was his opponent. But he then realized that HE himself was doing the battling, not his Pokemon. His eyes opened and he charged at Sandstorm with a battle cry, leaping into the air with his claws instinctively coming out.

Sandstorm easily dodged to the side and batted at him with a sheathed paw before he landed to throw him off balance. "Put those away!" Sandstorm scolded.

"Huh?" Ash looked at her in confusion. "Put what away?"

"Your claws. We always practice battling with claws sheathed as not to cause any injury." Sandstorm explained.

Ash looked down at his claws. "I didn't even notice that they came out…" He looked back up at his mentor. "If we do that, then how do we win battles?"

"We PRACTICE with claws sheathed but in REAL battles we have them unsheathed." She explained.

"Wait, what's sheathed and unsheathed again?" Ash asked.

Sandstorm sighed impatiently. "Sheathed means not having your claws out. We don't practice with our claws out. Unsheathed means that we DO have our claws out, and that's how we do real battles."

"Okay! I get it!" Ash grinned. He looked down at his claws. "But… how do I get them back in?"

Sandstorm looked at him like he had two heads. "What cat doesn't know how to retract their claws?!"

"Uh, well…" Ash stuttered before just concentrating on putting his claws back in. It happened almost naturally like moving any voluntary muscle. "Okay, I'm ready."

Sandstorm was still looking at him weird but got back in her battle ready stance. "Come back at me again."

Ash rushed at her again and leaped up. She swiped her paw at him and hit his underbelly, making him fly back. She leaped on him and held her paw on his stomach before he could roll back onto his feet.

"Hey! Let me go!" He protested.

"If I was an enemy warrior, I would have been slashing at your underbelly right now." Sandstorm stated darkly. "You must NEVER expose your underbelly. That's the weak spot of all cats."

Ash nodded as he withdrew this advice.

She lifted her paw and let him roll to his feet. "You're a smaller cat so you must use your agility to your advantage. You must observe the size and stature of your opponent and have a strategy in mind before rushing headfirst into battle. And your moves can't be so obvious like your last two charges at me."

Ash thought that through for a moment. This battling could be seen as physical Pokemon Battling. It was important to dodge, land an attack, and always have a strategy in mind. "Alright, I think I got it." Ash said, his eyes narrowed in determination.

"Charge at me one more time and then I'll show you some moves."

Ash nodded and ran straight at her again.

She watched him carefully with muscles tensed and ready to react. At the last second, he feinted to the right and narrowly dodged her swiping paw. In the brief second that she was recovering, he ran his paw along her flank. She spun around to face him and he reacted by batting at her cheek. She swiped her paw at him again and sent him rolling.

Gritting his teeth, he rushed at her again, feinted to the right and ran between her front legs, pawing at her underbelly- as she said that was the weak spot. All of a sudden, she collapsed on top of him, making him struggle helplessly.

"Hey! What gives?!" He yowled.

"At this point, put all of your strength into your leg muscles and try to leap up to throw me off balance." Sandstorm instructed.

Ash did as he was told and slightly threw her off. He ran a distance away and panted with fatigue but still with that determination burning in his eyes.

"Great job Ashpaw." Sandstorm praised with a smile and touched her tail to his shoulder. "Now I'll show you some moves that you can use."

Ash grinned excitedly and glanced at May to see her having some good progress as well. _'Maybe this won't be so bad after all.'_


	4. Chapter 4- Battles and Bonds

_**Heeey guys! After finally finishing the latest chapter of UiU I got this chapter out right away. I hope that you all enjoy reading this chapter as much I did writing it. This chapter contains: AshxMisty, NightxFox, and Brock/RockxTiger.**_

_**Just a reminder...  
**_

_**Ash=Ashpaw, May=Maypaw, Max=Owlpaw, Brock=Rockpaw.  
**_

_**Nightshade=Tigerpaw's mentor, Foxheart=Brock's mentor, Sandstorm=Ash's mentor, Squirrelflight=May's mentor.  
**_

_**Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review at the end. :3  
**_

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Battles and Bonds  
**_

After Ash and May had gone out with their mentors, Brock and Tigerpaw met up with theirs.

Nightshade glanced at Foxheart with an unreadable expression. "Do you want to tour together or separately?"

Foxheart looked crestfallen at his words, his expression furthering the disappointment. "If you don't want to…" She murmured sadly.

Nightshade realized his mistake and managed a small smile at her. "I was giving you a choice. I never said that I didn't want to."

Her emerald eyes lit up in excitement. "Oh alright. Let's go!" She bounced toward the entrance of the camp with Nightshade by her side.

Tigerpaw, however, followed slowly behind with an expression of unmistaken sadness upon her features.

Brock slowed his pace to walk beside her. "What's wrong?" He asked worriedly. "It must be something horrible for it to wipe that beautiful smile off your face."

She turned away from him angrily with contempt, "humph."

Brock frowned, slightly confused at her random anger. "What can I do to help?"

"Hey you two! Keep up already!" Nightshade snapped in his usual irritable manner.

"Yeah." Foxheart chimed, glancing over her shoulder at the lagging apprentices.

But Tigerpaw didn't hear them as she yelled her angry retort at Brock. "You're a player!" She gave him a glare that showed not only anger but also hurt. "You don't care for me!"

"Oh no…" Foxheart sweat dropped. "Y'all are too young… never mind." She cut off her own thought as it occurred to her that the two weren't listening anyways.

"Of course I care about you darling!" Brock insisted desperately.

"Really?" Tigerpaw's eyes twinkled slightly as she swooned.

"Of course! Please don't be sad." He pleaded.

Nightshade, who could care less about Brock and Tigerpaw's love issues, grunted in annoyance. "Come on, pay attention to your surroundings." He looked at Foxheart. "Where should we show them first?"

"The old twoleg nest by the border." Foxheart answered.

"Alright, let's go." As they walked on, Nightshade decided to address a landmark. "This is the Great Sycamore."

"Yes," Foxheart took over with the tour, "did you know that once a warrior fell from this tree… and died?! I think they were actually pushed…"

Brock and Tigerpaw grew horrified looks on their faces with Nightshade merely smirking.

"Creepy… who would push that cat?" Brock asked.

Tigerpaw shivered.

"Anyway, let's go!" Foxheart mewed cheerfully and bounced on.

On a sudden impulse, perhaps from Foxheart's mood shift, Tigerpaw got on her hind paws and began to dance.

Foxheart and Nightshade stared at her like she had two heads.

"I'll dance with you!" An excited Brock volunteered. He stood on his hind paws and danced as much as he could before gravity forced him on all fours again.

"Good job." Tigerpaw complimented cheerfully.

"Let's go on…" Foxheart muttered and continued walking.

Brock was flattered by her compliments. "Thanks, you did great too!" He sighed. "I missed dancing…"

Foxheart looked back at Brock with an odd expression. "Hmm? You've done that before?"

Brock sweat dropped when realizing how odd that must be to other cats. "I- uh, y-yeah, but I just had no one to dance with me so I didn't really do it much after that."

Foxheart finally gained the same annoyed look that Nightshade had to begin with. "Argh! Enough gossiping!" She snapped.

"Sorry!" The two apologized simultaneously.

The shadow of a smirk appeared on Nightshade's face as they trekked on. He turned to his apprentice. "Do you smell anything different?"

"Yes… Shadowclan!" She yowled.

"Did you sneak out of camp as a kit? How do you know what Shadowclan smells like?" Nightshade blinked.

"Because… uh… oh! I scent a cat!" Tigerpaw piped up in alarm.

"Where?!" Foxheart's pelt bristled in alarm.

Nightshade sniffed the air with an annoyed flick of his ear. "I don't smell anything. Have you got Mouse Bile up your nose?"

Tigerpaw's ears and tail drooped and her eyes glimmered with a hurtful emotion.

"Ouch, very ouch…" Foxheart grimaced.

Brock ran to Tigerpaw's side to glare at Nightshade. "How dare you insult her?! What kind of mentor are you?!"

I- erm," he cleared his throat, "I mean, where do you scent a cat? It's never good to doubt a clan member, I apologize."

"This way." Tigerpaw bolted off, her sadness vanishing.

"Come on!" Foxheart urged and followed the apprentice.

Brock followed instantly but Nightshade hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow.

"Come on!" Tigerpaw called as she ran.

"What's up?" Foxheart turned to Nightshade.

"Hmm? Oh nothing, just forget it. We have more important matters to tend to. I'm starting to scent that cat. Tigerpaw must have a good nose, she scented it before us."

Tigerpaw beamed at her mentor's praise before her face turned serious again. "I smell blood."

Foxheart's face lit up in alarm as she tasted the air for confirmation. "Me too! Let's go."

"I hope the cat's okay…" Brock murmured, still not used to the fact that the injuries were more serious in this world and that with his heightened senses he could smell the nauseating blood very distinctly.

An unfamiliar, menacing voice sounded up ahead. "Unless you want this kit to die, you'll bring us your leader." He growled.

The group of cats gazed forward in horror at these words.

"Let's get a little closer so we can see who this is. Hide yourselves and keep quiet." Nightshade ordered in a hushed voice. "Hustle!"

Tigerpaw nodded and crept along with a perfect hunter's crouch.

"Nice crouch!" Foxheart complimented in a whisper.

"Yes, very nice. Now come on, let's get closer." Nightshade responded hastily and crept closer through a bush.

"Yes, I'll do what you say! Don't hurt my kit!" A horrified, female voice pleaded.

"Good, good. Now go!" The first voice hissed.

Brock followed and tried to mimic Tigerpaw's crouch. "Argh, how does she do it so well?" He groaned

Tigerpaw got closer to Brock, her pelt brushing his, and nudged him into the stance. "There!"

Foxheart rolled her eyes at the two.

"Oh thanks! Now I know how to do it!" Brock cheered softly and instinctively began purring.

"Quiet! We're almost there!" Nightshade hissed silently.

"Hurry now…" Now that the patrol was closer they could recognize the first voice as Rowanclaw from Shadowclan and the terrified voice as their clanmate Ferncloud with her kit, Dustkit. Rowanclaw towered over the two with Dustkit trapped under his paw.

"Okay…" Ferncloud said while trembling and beginning to walk toward camp.

"Mama!" Dustkit cried and looked fearfully after Ferncloud.

"Oh no, not Dustkit." Tigerpaw whimpered.

"Damned Shadowclan!" Foxheart hissed furiously.

"Shouldn't we do something?!" Brock cried in bewilderment.

Nightshade glared at the scene but didn't respond.

"I don't know what we can do." Foxheart murmured.

"I do!" Tigerpaw's eyes gained a gleam of determination as she leaped out of the bush and onto Rowanclaw's back in one smooth jump. The surprise caused Rowanclaw to lift his paw, allowing Dustkit to scamper away to the cover of the bushes, cowering in terror.

"Gack!" Rowanclaw yowled and glared at his attacker. "An apprentice?!"

She gripped his neck fur tightly.

"Tigerpaw!" Nightshade growled in a scolding manner before running out to aid her. He slashed at the warrior's flank with a ferocious hiss.

Brock looked up at Foxheart nervously. "Should we help?"

"Nightshade!" Foxheart cried and rushed to help him. Brock followed his mentor out as well.

The ambush party yowled and leaped out of the bushes on the other side. One Shadowclan cat pinned Foxheart down and three grabbed Nightshade and threw him against a tree.

Nightshade tried to get up but he had hit the tree hard. His muscles screamed in protest as he kept fighting to stand. "Foxheart…" He muttered weakly.

Rowanclaw dislodged Tigerpaw and pinned her down. "Goodbye you filthy little Thunderclan fox dung!" He snarled and went in for the kill.

"Ahh!" Tigerpaw yelped as she struggled helplessly in his grip.

Brock's squinty eyes blazed as he rushed at Rowanclaw, yowling with fury and slashing at him in a rage. "Let her go!"

One of Brock's claw strikes caught him in the eye. "Gyahhhh!" His paw flailed around and ended up whacking Tigerpaw's head, knocking her out.

Foxheart also was knocked out cold by her attacker.

Nightshade clenched his teeth and forced himself to get up, despite his aching muscles. He ran straight for Foxheart's attacker when its back was turned and leaped on it, grabbing its scruff and tossing it on its side. He then started slashing rapidly and mercilessly at its flank in his rage. "Shadowclan fox dung!"

Now that Brock had gotten more into the heat of battle, he started fighting with more experience. The training from Jayfeather in self defense had come in handy. Now he was slashing and dodging with more skill.

"Grr…" Rowanclaw whacked Brock to the side. "You fight like a medicine cat!"

Brock staggered to his paws. "I may fight like a Medicine cat… But YOU fight like a Wurmple!" He rushed at him.

Rowanclaw blinked in utter confusion. "Huh?"

Another voice sounded through the clearing. "Nightshade… You want to fight… fight me."

Tigerpaw regained consciousness. "I smell Windclan!" She gasped.

Foxheart woke to this smell as well but she knew this cat's distinct scent more personally. "Oh no…" She breathed.

Nightshade stopped slashing at the cat he was using as a scratching post and spun around with bared fangs and blazing eyes to face the Windclan cat that had come up behind him.

"Hello Nightshade…" The new cat appeared, staring him down with a dark smirk.

"Blaze… Blazeheart?!" Foxheart stared at the orange Windclan tom in dismay.

Nightshade glared at Blazeheart with a bristling pelt and lashing tail. "You!" He spat venomously. Glancing to the side, he ordered, "Rockpaw, Tigerpaw, one of you two go get backup."

"Busy!" Tigerpaw cried as she tried to fend off two cats.

Brock broke off from his rushing at Rowanclaw. "Fine, I'll go." He glared at him in frustration before pelting away.

* * *

_**Meanwhile with May and Ash…**_

"That was a great training session you two." Squirrelflight complimented as the group paused for a break in the center of the clearing.

"Yep, with the progress you're making, you'll be warriors in no time." Sandstorm added.

Ash and May grinned at each other. They didn't know exactly what they meant but it sounded good.

"Why don't we go take a drink down at the river? I doubt Riverclan would mind a little drink since it IS on our side of the border." Squirrelflight said.

May and Ash nodded eagerly. They were parched!

As the group made their way to the river, they heard girlish giggling and splashing.

"That sounds like the Riverclan sisters to me." Sandstorm rolled her eyes.

May blinked. "Riverclan sisters?"

"Yep, these three cats who think that they're all so beautiful and graceful in the water." Squirrelflight explained, also rolling her eyes. "And their poor little sister is always teased by them."

"Boy does that sound familiar…" May muttered, glancing at Ash to see if he caught the drift. He looked confused as if he were onto something but not realizing it entirely. May sighed. _'How dense can you be?'_

As the group made their way to the river, they saw four cats playing in the water on the Riverclan side of the border. Three of them were the ones who were splashing and giggling girlishly while the fourth one just swam gracefully and skillfully through the water away from the three.

The three cats were all long haired and that fact was still distinguishable although the water pressed their fur against their bodies. One was a cat with fur as golden as the sun and she had a little flower in her fur in front of her left ear. Her eyes gleamed emerald as the sun reflected off the river and made them shine. Another, slightly smaller cat was a dark blue-gray with eyes as rich brown as chocolate. The third, smaller than the blue-gray cat, was a pinkish color with highly contrasting sapphire eyes.

"Come on little sis, like, stop being such a loner and lighten up." The golden cat called out to the smallest, fourth cat.

The fourth cat stopped swimming and looked at them. Her back was to the Thunderclan patrol so it was impossible to tell her expression or eye color but by her voice, she sounded annoyed. "Lighten up?!" She spat, her neck fur rising despite the water pressing her short fur to her body. "Am I the only one taking this situation seriously?! We're cats now! Doesn't that bother you three in the slightest?"

Ash stood staring at the group of cats in the river. But his eyes weren't directed toward the three girlish cats but to the beautiful orange cat who had spoken up. Her voice shot right through him but he didn't understand why it had affected him so much.

The blue-gray cat shrugged, unfazed by the orange cat's hostility. "Like, who cares if we're cats? Sure I miss our old life but as long as we can be around water and like, still be beautiful in some way, shape or form, then I'm happy."

"But you're still a runt, even as a cat." The pink cat sneered.

The orange cat's ears flattened to her head. "I don't have to sit here and take this! I would rather be hanging out with Irispaw and Sagepaw anyways instead of being insulted by my own sisters!"

Sandstorm's voice cut in as Ash listened to the cats' conversation. "Aren't you going to drink? Or are you going to stand there gawking at pretty she-cats all day?" She asked him playfully with a mrrow of amusement.

Ash flushed in embarrassment under his pelt. He had been gawking? "N-no. I'll drink." He tried to slurp the water like he regularly would but found that he had to use his tongue to get any water. After getting his fill of the ice cold liquid, he looked back up at his mentor with a glare of contempt. "And I wasn't gawking!" He tried to defend himself.

"Yeah, you were." May laughed, making Ash pout at her.

Before he could argue, a voice yelled from behind them and they could hear someone crashing through the undergrowth. Brock came into view, panting heavily.

From the corner of his eye, Ash saw the three girly cats look over at the patrol curiously but the orange cat paid them no mind as she pushed past her sisters and climbed out of the river, shaking her pelt free of any water.

"Rockpaw, is something wrong?" Sandstorm asked, her playfulness replaced by alarm.

"We need backup…" He panted, trying to catch his breath. "I was heading to camp… when I saw you guys… were here…"

"Backup for what?" Squirrelflight demanded. "What's happening?!"

"A battle… with Shadowclan. And there's a Windclan cat there too I think." Brock responded, finally beginning to get his breath back.

"Alright Rockpaw. You go on to camp and tell Firestar. Our patrol will go and help out." Sandstorm responded.

Brock nodded and ran back toward camp.

"Let's go." Sandstorm ordered and ran in the direction that Brock had come from, her ears perked to listen for sounds of the battle.

Squirrelflight followed with May hard on her heels.

Ash was about to follow but his eyes were drawn back to the orange cat, as if he couldn't tear them away from her.

May retraced her steps back to Ash to find him still staring at the group. "Come on Ash! This is no time to dawdle!" May scolded urgently.

This caught the orange cat's attention as his name must have meant something to her. She spun around to look at the group across the river with wide eyes and they met Ash's. At seeing her eyes, something tugged inside his heart and he realized that she was the cat from his vision! The sun reflected off of her luminous sea green eyes, making them sparkle and it shone on her fiery pelt in just the perfect way to make her seem almost angelic. She stared at Ash with eyes widened with the same confused expression that he had but she looked closer to realizing who he was than he did her.

Ash felt lost in her eyes and it seemed that she was in no hurry to turn away either. His heart hammered uncontrollably in his chest and ached with an emotion that he hadn't felt in a long time.

Squirrelflight came back to find what was keeping the apprentices and found with annoyance that Ash was still staring at the Riverclan cats, not noticing that one was staring right back at him. "Ashpaw! We have more important matters to tend to than watching Riverclan she-cats swim! Now hurry up before I drag you away!"

Both jumped in shock as the angry voice intruded in their own little world and Ash reluctantly turned away, feeling a horrible aching in his heart as he did so. Ignoring the ache and desire to keep staring at her, he followed May and her irritated mentor. All he knew was that he wanted to see that cat again. He wanted to know who she was and why she made him feel that way. Forcing all these thoughts to the back of his mind, he made himself focus on the battle that they had to face.

* * *

_**Back with Foxheart and Nightshade…**_

"B-Blazeheart… Why?" Foxheart whimpered.

"No," Blazeheart snarled, "don't act pathetic! This is revenge…"

When they were apprentices, Foxheart had met Blazeheart at a gathering and they kept secretly meeting in the underground tunnels their clans had discovered. The two had fallen in love. But then Foxheart one day decided that they couldn't meet anymore. The fact was that her heart belonged to someone else. Although she didn't say who, Blazeheart knew exactly who she was talking about.

Nightshade glared Blazeheart. "Why is Windclan conspiring with Shadowclan?" He demanded.

Blazeheart blinked. "…Hmm. I don't really know…"

Foxheart gave him a strange look.

Tigerpaw gave them a bewildered look before getting pummeled by the two cats she was facing.

Nightshade huffed. "So you just HAPPENED to attack us at the same time Shadowclan came?"

"Nah, I was just bored so I said okay I'll help." He smirked.

Foxheart's jaw dropped in shock.

"HELP!" Tigerpaw cried, getting hurt badly.

Without looking away from Blazeheart, Nightshade ordered, "Foxheart! Go help Tigerpaw!"

"Right!" Foxheart responded and rushed to aid the apprentice.

Nightshade stared Blazeheart down with narrowed eyes. "So are we battling or what?"

"Be my guest…" Blazeheart responded coolly.

"Great…" Tigerpaw coughed with a sweat drop. "Where's Rockpaw?"

Foxheart got in a defensive position. "He went for help." She answered before attacking one of the cats.

"Oh." Tigerpaw responded and attacked the other. The other cat in the ambush party who sat idle and Rowanclaw joined the battle against Foxheart and Tigerpaw, letting Nightshade and Blazeheart have their own personal duel.

Nightshade ran at Blazeheart, feinting to one side and slashing at his flank.

Blazeheart easily dodged the attack. "Aww, you fight like a nursing queen." He taunted with his tongue peeking out. He grasped the large tom's scruff.

Nightshade tried to turn while in his grasp to struggle free.

"After I kill you," Blazeheart grinned darkly, "I'll take Foxheart to Windclan with me." He slashed down Nightshade's back with his hind claws.

Foxheart hissed at Blazeheart when hearing his words.

"I hear approaching cats!" Tigerpaw cried.

"The Dark Forest you will!" Nightshade snarled in fury and twisted sharply to dislodge his scruff. He then slashed rapidly down his side before digging his fangs into the side of his neck and biting hard with his claws still slashing. _'I sure hope those are Thunderclan cats.' _He hoped.

"Thunderclan!" Foxheart cried in relief.

"Mama!" Dustkit ran from the bush he was hiding in to his mother, who had rejoined them with the group of Thunderclan cats.

"YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Dustpelt, Dustkit's father, roared in a rage.

"Thunderclan, attack!" Firestar cried.

"Ashpaw, to me!" Sandstorm ordered her apprentice.

"Shadow dung!" Squirrelflight spat.

Other Thunderclan cats rushed in as well.

"Great…" Rowanclaw sighed.

Blazeheart slashed back at Nightshade. "This isn't over!"

Nightshade grinned. "Yes… it is… Are you going to run like a coward?" He slashed at his face.

Ash ran to his mentor with a determined look on his face. "Let's do this! I'm ready." He waited for instruction since he had been scolded enough times for rushing into battles headfirst with no plan.

They kicked ass!

All of the cats had fled after an intense battle and only Blazeheart remained, still battling Nightshade. "You need to say goodbye!" He hissed, pinning Nightshade down with his teeth to his throat.

Foxheart stared on with deep worry in her eyes.

Firestar padded up to the fighting cats. "Want help?" He asked, understanding the deep rivalry between them.

Nightshade hesitated for a heartbeat while still slicing at his attacker's underbelly as he stood over him. He hated to admit it but his situation looked grim and although his pride protested against the idea of help, he let his rationality take over and nodded to his leader.

"Rawr!" Firestar leaped on Blazeheart and bit the back of his neck.

"Grr!" Blazeheart tried to throw Firestar off.

Nightshade continued slicing Blazeheart's underbelly with all four paws as he was pinned under him.

"ENOUGH!" Blazeheart spat.

Firestar let go of him with narrowed eyes.

The Windclan tom then realized that everyone else was gone. "Fox dung…" He muttered before turning tail and running away.

Nightshade stood up and shook out his pelt, wincing slightly from his deep injuries. He dipped his head in thanks to his leader before Foxheart ran up to him and began covering him in loving licks.

"Nightshade! I was so worried!" She cried between licks.

Nightshade couldn't help but smirk. "Worried? YOU were worried about ME?"

"Of course!" Foxheart's eyes twinkled. "I love you!"

Firestar looked proud and overtaken with emotion as he watched the scene between one of his daughters and Nightshade play out. "My baby's growing up!" He cried.

"We knew this day would come…" Sandstorm cried with an expression mirroring Firestar's as they watched their daughter.

Nightshade's eyes widened at her words. "R-really?" He stuttered slightly, his nonchalant expression becoming hopeful and loving. "I didn't think you felt the same way…" He felt sort of awkward, Foxheart always being his weakness. But for the first time in a while, he was actually happy. "I- I love you too."

"Yay…" Foxheart purred with a loving gaze at her new mate.

"I couldn't have chosen anyone better for her." Firestar stated proudly.

"He's a good warrior." Sandstorm agreed.

Nightshade twined his tail with hers, a purr rumbling in his throat as he nuzzled her.

Foxheart purred also. "Let's get you back to camp and get you patched up!"

"You and me both." He agreed and the two padded back toward camp. The other cats began clearing out as well.

"Rockpaw?! Rockpaw?!" Tigerpaw cried, limping around and looking for him.

Brock heard Tigerpaw's cries and rushed over to her. He had some scratches and wounds but the most noticeable was a deep gash on his shoulder. "Tigerpaw! My beautiful flower! Are you alright?!"

"Oh Rockpaw!" She smiled sweetly at him. "You saved my life earlier!" She licked his shoulder wound. "I'm sorry!"

Brock winced slightly in pain as she licked his wound but blushed under his fur. "Of course! I would do anything for you."

"How can I ever repay you?!" She asked.

"R-repay me? No, there's no need!" Brock assured her.

"Are you sure?" She insisted.

"W-well, there's one thing you could do…"

"What?" Tigerpaw asked.

Brock had heard the conversation between Foxheart and Nightshade but for once he didn't care. What he felt for Tigerpaw was different than what he had felt for any human or cat that he had ever swooned over. He felt that he truly loved her. "I have never felt this way about any other cat and well… what I have to ask is… would you stay with me?" He braced himself for rejection for the millionth time, but this time it felt like more was at stake.

Tigerpaw's eyes widened before narrowing with a hidden playful smirk. "…No…"

Brock's face fell majorly. "I knew it! Why did I even ask?! Of course you wouldn't love a cat like me! But after loving you, how could I ever love again?!" He cried in dismay.

"No… I will never EVER leave you." Her voice softened and rang like a blissful bell as she gave him an adoring gaze. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, my sweet!"

"Wha-?! But you-" Reality then hit him like a brick in the face. "Y-you really mean it?" His squinty eyes twinkled hopefully.

Tigerpaw nuzzled his face affectionately. "I love you sooo much, of course I mean it… but I'm worried that you are too good for me…" She frowned.

"WHAAAT?! NO! NO! I- I- Uh- No! I love you too Tigerpaw! You have no idea how happy this makes me!" He purred uncontrollably as he returned the nuzzle.

Her eyes sparkled joyfully. "R…really? NYA~!" She was so happy that she would cry if she could.

The pain in his shoulder brought Brock back to Earth. "We… should probably get back to camp my dear." He winced and looked around to realize that everyone else had already left.

"Of course my love…" Tigerpaw purred.

The new couple made their way back to camp with their tails entwined.

* * *

_**Soooo... Did anyone guess who the "Riverclan Sisters" were and who the mentioned Irispaw and Sagepaw were? :p If not, they will be introduced eventually. Hope you enjoyed.**_


	5. Chapter 5- The Gathering

_**This was one of my favorite chapters since I did this part of the role play with my friend and we were up until 6 AM... On a school night! That was one of the oddest days of school... Anyways, this chapter has loads of Pokeshipping. Have fun and let me know what you think. :3**_

* * *

_**Warrior Pokemon Ch 5**_

"Hey Ash, guess what?" May called as she bounced over.

Ash glanced up from the vole he was devouring; none of the so-called "fresh kill" seemed to sustain his monstrous apatite. "What is it May?" he asked.

May leaned in close, her eyes narrowed as if she had juicy gossip, which she probably did, knowing her. "Brock has… pause for dramatic effect…" she said, "a girlfriend!"

Ash leaped back in surprise. "What? Never thought that'd happen in a million years…"

"I know right?" May giggled. "Guess who it is?"

"Nurse Joy?"

"Nope, Tigerpaw!" May said.

"Are you talking about me, Maypaw?" Tigerpaw suddenly appeared behind her and asked.

Horror overtook May's features at being caught gossiping. She spun around to face Tigerpaw with a sheepish smile. "Noooo…"

Ash hadn't gotten the memo yet. "Yeah we were. Wasn't Tigerpaw the one you said was Brock's girlfriend?"

May slapped her face with her paw.

Tigerpaw tipped her head to one side with a strange look. "Uh, I'm going to be Rockpaw's mate if that's what you're talking about…"

"Yeah, that's-" Ash cut himself off as his mistake finally slapped him over the back of the head like a brick. "Yeah I meant Rockpaw, eheheh," Ash stuttered. "Where is he anyway?"

"Just getting some fresh kill for my Sweet and I," Brock answered as he joined the group, gripping a large thrush. He set the prey down. "Did you tell them the news?" His silted eyes twinkled as he spoke.

"No, they found out on their own somehow," Tigerpaw shrugged.

Firestar leaped atop the rock. "All cats gather; it is time to announce who's going to tonight's gathering."

Tigerpaw moaned. "Aw, I almost forgot about the gathering! I can't go yet!"

"Why can't you go?" May asked. She had no idea what a gathering even was but she decided playing coy would seem less suspicious.

"Cats who have just been made apprentices can't go the gathering until later into their apprenticeship. You guys might be able to go though," Tigerpaw explained, still moping.

Firestar called some names; some were familiar while others entered one ear and flew out the other. Ash, May and Brock were called among them.

Tigerpaw's ears and tail drooped. Brock noticed this and was instantly at her side. "Don't worry Darling, I will tell you everything that happens and count every second until we are back together again," he said in a way that made the she-cat swoon.

Ash gagged at the romantic mush, disappointed that Max would no longer be allowed to pull his ear when he flirted. _This will be a lot to get used to…_ "Come on Br- Rockpaw; they're waiting on us," Ash said and began pushing Brock toward the waiting cats at the entrance.

"Farewell my beautiful flower, we will be together again before you know it," Brock called as he was pushed away.

Ash and May rolled their eyes as they trudged out of camp.

"This isn't as great as I thought it would be," May said with a yawn. "What do you guys think?"

"I can't have any fun without my Tigerpaw here to enjoy it with me," Brock wailed.

"What're you talking about? This is great," Ash enthused and looked around at all the cats together at the gathering place. They had to cross a fallen tree to get to an island that floated near the center of the lake. A humongous tree proudly towered over the small clearing. "We might meet someone who's been turned into cats like us. We should meet some of the other clans."

"Okay..." May said but didn't sound at all thrilled by the idea.

Ash wandered around the island, taking in the unique scents of each mingled clan; water, forest, heather and pine trees combined in one. He was so enthralled in his exploration that he didn't notice until too late that a cat was in front of him and ended up crashing head first into it.

"Ow, watch where you're going!" The cat spat as they both fell backwards from the impact.

The hostility in the cat's voice sparked indignant feelings in Ash, evoking a challenge in his eyes. "Hey, you're the one who-" He had been ready to launch a full fledged argument but his breath hitched in his throat when he saw the cat he had ran into. 'It's the cat from before!' he realized and leaped to his paws.

The orange cat that he had seen at the river stood before him, her tail tip twitching and eyes narrowed. Upon being closer to her, Ash noticed that she looked even more familiar. The fur that lined her face stuck out on one side like spikes, much like his, and was smoothed down on the other side. Perhaps the most familiar was an unusual tuft of fur behind her ear that stuck up, looking almost like a ponytail. She stared at him impatiently.

"Have I met you somewhere before?" he asked. He knew that he had obviously seen her across the river but upon looking into her eyes, he felt as if he had known her all his life.

She gave him a strange look. "No..." But upon giving him closer inspection, her eyes widened slightly. "Wait..." Suddenly her face caught on fire, showing through the fur, and she averted her eyes. "Uhhh- I..." She stuttered.

Ash blinked. "Huh? You what? You seem kinda... Familiar to me."

The cat looked up at him, her alluring eyes sparkling. "Can you think of a name?" She asked in a voice that sounded as soft as her fur looked.

Ash's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he racked his brain for a name. "Hmm... I think you're... Mist...erious person, Mist...aken answer, Mis...guided cat...?"

The cat looked to be getting angrier and angrier by the minute with her ears flattening to her head and her lip curling over her teeth. "Why I aughta..." She growled, her claws sliding out.

The wind suddenly blew Ash's fluffy dark gray pelt in a way that made him look sexy in the orange cat's eyes. The moon also beamed upon him in just the right position to where his chocolate brown eyes seemed to glow a honey gold.

The cat's hostility transformed into a love-drunk stare. "Oh wow..." She swooned.

The moment was over in an instant when the wind stopped blowing. Ash was still pondering. "Mis...cerulean?" He asked.

The cat's anger returned and reached its peak as she pulled a large tree branch out of seemingly nowhere and lifted it over her head with her paws. "That's not even a WORD," she screamed and slammed the branch down. Ash barely dodged it as it crashed down on a log, pelting him in a shower of splinters as the log exploded. "YOU IDIOT!"

Ash cowered down and stared up at the cat with eyes the size of Masterballs. "Misty?" He sputtered and stood up slowly on shaky legs.

Misty scoffed and turned away, putting the tree branch elsewhere. "Took you long enough."

Ash leaped up, forgetting his previous scare. "Wow, you knew who I was right away! It's great to see ya Misty!"

She glanced at him. "Great... How?"

Ash cocked his head to one side. "What do you mean? I'm just happy to see you. What clan are you in anyways?"

Misty sighed. "River."

"No wonder I've never met up with you before. It definitely fits you. I'm in Thunder with Brock, May and Max," he rambled. "Oh, speaking of Brock, this may shock you but he actually got a girlfriend!"

"Whaaaa?" Misty asked. 'Brock! BROCK! Before me?' She wondered in despair.

"Yeah, I was pretty amazed by that too," Ash continued, oblivious to her despair. "So how do you like it in Riverclan?"

"I don't really like anyone..." She said before catching herself. "I mean it's great and I like the sun." She sweat dropped, confusing Ash.

"Huh. I thought you would have liked all the water and stuff," Ash said.

"I do... Uh... How are you?" She scuffed her paws in the grass.

Ash gave her a strange look. She was acting weird. "I'm fine, I guess. But hey, if you don't like Riverclan then why don't you just come to Thunderclan?" His eyes lit up. "At least you know people there."

Misty sighed. "I don't know... Uh... Ash?" Her eyes fell to her paws.

"Yeah Mist?"

"Do you... Like anyone in Thunderclan?" She mumbled, her claws tearing up the grass below her paws.

"Like? Like how?" Ash blinked.

Misty glared at her paws, which tore into the grass more fiercely. "Like... Like like?"

"Like... Like like...?" He echoed. She watched as his expression changed while he went through his thought process, which finally stopped on realization. "Oh!" It then changed to suspicion. "Why?"

Misty's eyes widened and she took a nervous step back. "N-no reason. Your shoe's untied!"

"Oh, thanks," he said and looked down at his paws to tie his so-called shoes. It was about that time that he remembered he had turned into a cat. His head snapped up. "Hey wait a minute! Cats don't wear shoes!"

Horror overtook Misty's face at being caught. "Uh... I... Uh... Shinx," she stammered before falling over.

"Uh... Misty?" He poked her side with a paw and leaned over her. "Miiiiiiiiiisty, wake up." When she didn't respond, he started to become worried.

Misty's eyes opened slowly, accompanied by a groan. They shot open when she saw how close Ash was. "Ash!"

He leaped back in surprise. "You woke up," he sighed, "that's a relief." He gave her a strange look. "Why did you faint like that before?"

Her eyes threw daggers at him. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't faint!"

"But... You just did." Ash blinked. "You kinda scared me back there."

"Whatever," Misty huffed. "You've not answered my question."

"You asked me a question?" Ash lifted a paw to scratch behind his ear, eyes rolling back into his head again. "Oh yeah, I remember now. Um, no. I don't like like like anyone in Thunderclan. At least I don't... Think... So..."

Misty's tail tip twitched and her lip curled up. "You... Don't THINK so?!" She snarled, making Ash fall over.

"I- uh- no! I don't," Ash stammered, his fur bristling and back arched. "... Actually, I really don't now that I think about it." He shrugged. "Why do you care so much anyway?" He paused and stared at her as his mind finally began putting all of the pieces together. "Wait, do you-"

"The gathering's about to start," Misty interrupted in a haste.

"No! Answer MY question first," Ash said like a stubborn child, pouting to play the part.

"Yeah, Riverclan's great," Misty mumbled, avoiding his gaze and tearing up the grass again.

"Stop avoiding the question," Ash spat. "I answered your's so now you gotta answer mine!" He stared at her with a look that screamed "I won't stop asking until you tell me".

Misty's anxious eyes closed and her ears folded to her head. "Yes! Yes! I DO! I'VE LOVED YOU EVER SINCE I FIRST MET YOU! I LOVE EVERYTHING FROM YOUR INCREDIBLE BODY TO YOUR BRILLIANT PERSONALITY TO YOUR IGNORANT STUPIDITY! ALL I HAVE EVER WANTED WAS FOR YOU TO LOVE ME ASH KETCHUM," she screamed her confession, freezing when she noticed that every cat at the gathering, including the leaders, were staring at her. "Yeah, that's what my mom said that her sister's cousin said 'cause she was upset," Misty laughed nervously.

Everyone shrugged and went back to what they were doing, bar Ash.

Ash was so red that it was showing through his pelt like a stain. "Uh..." He swallowed and ran her words over in his mind, his eyes slitted. "Y-you WHAT?! I said like," he stammered and began freaking out with incoherent squeaks.

Misty looked away, ears hot from embarrassment. "Yeah, it's out." The moon switched to her side and lent its glow upon her, making her glossy orange pelt and luscious aqua eyes shimmer. "I love you Ash. But... Do YOU love ME?" She whispered, the moon aiding in her plea by making her ten times more beautiful in every way.

"I... Uh..." Her beauty struck through him, encasing him in a mystified daze.

Her expression fell, stricken by hurt. "I understand," she said, her voice hardly a whisper. "I'm sorry to have bothered you. I'll leave now." She turned away before he could see the tears that were forcing their way out of her eyes and ran toward the bushes.

Ash stared after her, frozen in his daze momentarily before snapping out of it with an abrupt shake of the head. "Wait, Misty," he called, racing after her. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why didn't I say anything?! ANYTHING would have been better than nothing,' he mentally cursed himself. "Misty, please come back!"

Ash came across Misty crouched behind a bush, tears streaming from her eyes, although Ash thought that cats couldn't cry. A vision of Misty's human form with her head in her knees, crying her eyes out, formulated next to the cat, striking Ash like a blow through his heart. It meant more seeing her cry as a human, although it was still painful seeing her cry as a cat. He couldn't stand seeing her like that and the thought of him being the cause for her pain hurt him beyond belief. The vision vanished almost instantly but the cat Misty was still weeping.

_Why didn't I see it before? I feel exactly the same way she does, _Ash realized and began remembering all the times they had spent together on his adventure; how happy she had made him and how devastated he was when she left. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he stepped forward uneasily. "Misty?" he asked softly.

Her head snapped up and broke her tear line, scattering droplets everywhere. "Ash," she whispered before looking away in an attempt to hide her tears. "What do you want?"

Ash's ears drooped. "Look Misty, what you just told me… I was just shocked, I needed time to think," he said and she looked at him, hopelessness swimming in her gaze. "I thought it through and realized that I feel exactly the same way; I just didn't realize it before. I've always cared a lot about you but I didn't know how much until the day you left. After that day I had missed you so much and couldn't stop thinking about you. It hurt more and more each time you had to leave again. What I'm trying to say is," he took a deep breath, "I l-love you too," he stuttered.

By the time he had finished speaking, she was crying again. She leaped into him, burying her face in his neck fur. "Oh Ash, I was so…" she paused, as if trying to find the right words, "scared; scared that I wouldn't be enough for you. I've felt this way for so long but I didn't want to lose you if you didn't feel the same way. You really mean what you say?"

Ash frowned, sadness pouring through his veins. He had no idea that she had kept that secret for so long, afraid of him rejecting her. He wasn't sure how he would have reacted when he was younger; he might have rejected her. He was too young and stupid back then. "Yes, I do mean it Mist. I'm not really familiar with the whole concept of love but I'm sure now that that's what I'm feeling. I had tried for so long to figure out why I feel so differently toward you than my other friends. I want you by my side forever; I don't want you to leave ever again."

She pulled away slightly to look at him, her eyes glittering beautifully in the shaft of moonlight. "Oh Ash," she purred and rubbed against him.

Ash closed his eyes and relished in the feeling of her warmth; the smell of fresh water in her fur. They may be cats but he still felt the same as he would if they were humans. It was still her and he could never think about being this close to anyone else.

After a few blissful moments in each other's company, Misty pulled away with a sad sigh. "How is this going to work? In this world cats from different clans aren't supposed to be together. It's just like me being stuck at the gym. We're forced to be apart again," she said, desperation in her voice.

"No," Ash said. "I won't let that happen. I don't want you to leave again; especially not now that I know how I feel about you."

"I don't want to leave you again either but what can we do?"

"Well you said you didn't like Riverclan that much so why not just join Thunderclan?" Ash asked, his claws digging into the ground.

She looked unsure. "I don't know Ash… I would really miss the water. Would I even be accepted into your clan?"

"The other two clans attacked us so yours would be more likely to be accepted than any other clan. I really don't know what to say about the water but at least you'll be with Brock, May and Max and of course me. Please Misty," he said, his eyes pleading.

Misty nodded slowly, her eyes softening. "Alright Ash, I'll come with you. We might have to fight to be together but it's a fight I'm willing to see to the end. I trust you to be there for me." She snuggled against him again. "We'll do this together."

A warm and light feeling danced inside Ash as he returned the affection, his tail twining with hers. This was the happiest moment of his life. He lay his head on top of hers. "Together."

They sat there together, entranced in their own world where they were the only inhabitants. Nothing else mattered, not even the fact that they may never turn back into humans again. They could face anything, as long as they were together.

Suddenly the bushes behind them rustled and a figure stepped out of the shadows. Ash and Misty spun around to see who had caught them together, fearing that they would be torn apart again.


End file.
